Trump backs Kemp in unsettled Georgia governor's race

Friday

ATLANTA — President Donald Trump is weighing in on Georgia's unsettled, too-close-to-call governor's race in favor of Republican Brian Kemp.

Trump tweeted Friday that Kemp "ran a great race in Georgia - he won. It is time to move on!"

Democratic nominee Stacey Abrams disagrees, maintaining that enough ballots remain uncounted to force a runoff. Her lawyers are exploring options to ensure all votes are counted.

The races for governor and U.S. Senate also are tight in Florida, which Trump referred to in a tweet that said: "You mean they are just now finding votes in Florida and Georgia - but the Election was on Tuesday? Let's blame the Russians and demand an immediate apology from President Putin!"

Trump's message refers to allegations that Russian interference helped him win in 2016, but it wasn't clear exactly what the president meant about votes being found.

Trump joined outgoing GOP Gov. Nathan Deal in trying to build momentum for Kemp to take office. On Thursday, Deal stood before a bank of cameras and welcomed into his office a man he recognized as his successor.

Deal called Kemp "the governor-elect," accepting his fellow Republican's resignation as secretary of state and promising the two would begin work immediately on transition business ahead of a January transfer of power.

"We won a clear and convincing victory," Kemp said of returns showing him with 50.3 percent of almost 4 million votes, about a 63,000-vote lead over Abrams. That's a narrow sum considering the near-presidential election year turnout, though sufficient for the majority required for outright victory.

The Associated Press has not called the governor's race.

With legal wrangles opening and Abrams showing no signs of conceding, the dispute is prolonging a bitter contest with historical significance and national political repercussions. Abrams would become the first black woman elected governor of any U.S. state. Kemp seeks to maintain Republican dominance in a growing, diversifying Deep South state positioned to become a presidential battleground.

The key question is how many uncounted ballots actually remain.

Kemp said Thursday that it's fewer than 21,000 — almost certainly not enough to force a runoff. The elections chief from the secretary of state's office — which Kemp ran until noon Thursday — said in an afternoon federal court hearing that the number is 21,190.

"Even if she got 100 percent of those votes, we still win," Kemp said.

Abrams' campaign argues the total could be higher, and the secretary of state's office has shared scant details as officials in Georgia's 159 counties keep counting.

A runoff, if needed, would be Dec. 4.

County authorities must certify final returns by Tuesday. The state must certify a statewide result by Nov. 20. Deal appointed one of his Cabinet members to oversee the process in Kemp's place.

One of the lawsuits heard Thursday in federal court requested Kemp be barred from overseeing the rest of the certification procedure — a request pre-empted by Kemp's resignation.

Abrams, other Democrats — including former President Jimmy Carter — and voting-rights activists had for months urged Kemp to step down amid charges he was abusing his office to make it harder for some Georgians, particularly minorities, to vote.

Kemp said his resignation "will give confidence to the certification process." He maintained he wasn't bowing to pressure but preparing to be governor.

Leaders of Abrams' campaign said they believe she needs to pick up about 25,000 votes to force a runoff.

Abrams' campaign manager, Lauren Groh-Wargo, said four counties reported considerably fewer early votes in the governor's race than the number of early ballots cast. Groh-Wargo said it seemed implausible that voters cared enough to cast ballots early but not in the fiercely contested governor's race.

She said officials in suburban Atlanta's Cobb County added several hundred votes Thursday morning from absentee ballots. That came after the secretary of state's office said all absentee and early ballots had been counted.

Abrams' lawyers also said they plan to sue officials in Dougherty County because absentee ballots were delayed after Hurricane Michael devastated parts of south Georgia. Separately, the American Civil Liberties Union raised concerns over 1,200 absentee ballots in Gwinnett County, northeast of Atlanta, which it said were rejected because of missing birthdate information.

"Brian Kemp owes voters an explanation," Groh-Wargo said, demanding to see lists and names. "We do not believe any of these numbers are credible."

When Kemp's campaign declared victory Wednesday, his aides cited a statewide estimate of uncounted ballots from the secretary of state's office. But that office had not publicly offered a county-by-county breakdown to Abrams' campaign or to the news media at that point.

The provisional vote total is considerably higher than in 2016, when a slightly larger electorate yielded 16,739 provisional ballots. Of those, 7,592 were counted.

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